How To - Build your own USB cable for 2011- 2013 PPV's

Electronic systems, stereo and Holden iQ, wiring, it all goes here....
smwalker
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How To - Build your own USB cable for 2011- 2013 PPV's

Post by smwalker »

Since writing this original how to post we have come across a factory solution for the USB cord situation for IQ units. It consists of buying two GM cords that plug into each other to form one cord that goes from the radio to a factory GM receptacle. Price will be in the $50.00 range for both of the cords so I will leave the tutorial up for anyone still wanting to make their own.

More information on those cords and receptacles here: Holden/GM Factory USB Cords


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I will attempt to show you how to build your own USB cable so when you have Chris White perform the programming to Utilize this feature of the radio you will be able to have a cable to use.

Now what I have done in this example is just build a USB cord you can plug in to the side of the radio and then plug any USB devise into the other end. But the cord would just lay there where ever you have it. It is not mounted in a receptacle. When you start getting into receptacles this is where you can start going a little crazy with options. I will go into those at the end.

This cord we are building is very similar to a Kent Moore cord (EL-50334-10) that GM Techs use to diagnose the USB plugs on cars. It is supposedly available here (Link) for about $150.00. A drawing of it here:
Image
But if you already have the tools needed I think you can do it for Under $20.00


Supplies and Tools

So First we need the parts to make the connector at the radio:
Mouser has been the site that offers what we need but there maybe others that offer similar parts.

Terminals (Need 4, get some extra) Manufacturer Part # GT8-2428SCF Link

Insulator (Need 1, get one extra) Manufacturer Part # GT17H-4S-2C Link
(Image at Mouser Site is not accurate of the part)

Outer Tube Terminal (Need 1) Manufacturer Part # GT17HS-4S-5CF Link

Retainer (Need 1) Manufacturer Part # GT17HS-4S-HU Link

As far as tools you will need the following:
Razor blade
Small pick
Terminal Crimping tool capable of crimping 24-30 AWG wire/terminals (about $40.00)
Wire stripper for very small AWG wires (about $10.00) (or just carefully use razor blade)

USB Cable:
I used a 6 foot USB 2.0 Type "A" Male to Type "A" Female cord. Then just cut off the Male end.

Assembly
Instructions for assembling these connectors can be seen here (Link) on page 24 of the PDF, 123 of the manual. Print it out for your reference.

First step is to cut off the male USB end
Image

Strip the outer jacket using your razor blade or a large guage wire stripper and pull back the shielding material
Image

Strip each wire and install terminal
Image


With Terminals on each of the 4 wires install your Retainer on the wire first over the terminals. Then install the outer Tube Terminal down onto the wire as well. Leave them down the wire a bit as we will bring them up later.

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EDIT Here for a tip: After doing a few of these I have found squeezing the sides of the crimped area makes the base of the crimped terminal more square and thus fits better into the connector slot. Super acurate diagram here:

Image

Just be careful not to crush the terminal, just square it up a bit.
OK back to the tutorial
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Line up the wires in the Insulator in the order of Black, Green, White, Red. Note where the push button is at the side of the insulator. This is the order they need to be in once they go into the radio. All USB 2.0 cords will have these same color of wires in them so they are a universal standard.
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Push the terminals all the way into the Insulator till the tang on the top of the connector clicks into it's lock. You should see the tip of all the terminals in the little window at the end of the insulator.
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Once all 4 terminals are locked into their spots move up the outer tube terminal and lock it into place over the insulator (it is keyed and only goes on one way). Then make sure and get all the shielding material secured in the large crimp at the bottom and close that up. Not a lot of advise I can give you here. Once crimped closed it has to be perfectly round and small enough for the retainer to fit over it. I do not know of a tool that can do that. I just worked it closed with my needle nose and pliers till I got it to fit. Not an easy task.
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Finally bring up your retainer to finish it all off. It also can only be install one way due to the location of the wire crimp.
Image

Receptacles


If you do not want a cord just hanging around in your interior all loose you have to come up with a receptacle solution.

First ones we will start with is some factory solutions.

You could just go with a simple USB plug in. This one is GM part Number 20944418
Image

You would need to make a square hole somewhere in your interior to mount it. I found a spot in the center console storage bin but you could do it in the glove compartment or even in the little cubby in front of the gear shifter. These locations are tight but it can be done.

Or you could go with a factory round receptacle that could replace one of the 12 volt accessory plugs either in the front cubby or the center console storage area. GM ppart Numbers:
USB Cover Plug - 20983937
USB Receptacle (in dash) - 20944422

They look like this:
Image

Now you will notice that on both of these where the USB Mini-B plug goes in it looks like there are some channels and locks for a special connector. Well that is a special connector made by Delphi Automotive and I have not been able to find a source for them in small quantities. (UPDATE - We found them in small quantities, see message at top of this post) The good news is though a standard off the shelf Mimi-B plug fits in there just fine. Problem is without a locking in mechanism it could fall out. So some measures should be taken to make sure it stays in there (friction tape, tie wrap, etc.). It clicks in pretty good but definitely not as secure as if it had the correct connector from delphi.

So in both of these instances we would buy a 3' or 6' foot USB Mini-B to USB Typa "A" Male cord and cut off the Type "A" Male end and put on our specialty connector for our radios as we did above.

Now if you wanted to avoid the whole Mini-B cord thing you could just look to the aftermarket and get a receptacle with a cord already wired up. Won't be factory but will be easier. Ebay and amazon is full of solutions from the aftermarket. They usually look like something like this:
Image Image

So with both of these aftermarket items we would cut off the Standard USB plug it comes with and wire on our special connector for our radios.

You will notice on that last one there was a 3.5mm AUX in plug and connector. There are also some factory options for that that will work with our radios but that can be covered in another thread so as to not get things mixed up.
Here is that other thread: How To - Build your Own AUX IN cord for GM Factory Receptacle

And Just as a guide here is where I have mounted my receptacle in my center console storage area.
Image

Here is my final install with part number 25832462. That part number was replaced by part number 20870101 (pictured above) which has a white face. So when you order try to specify what color face you want. You may not be able to find 25832462 (black face) from a dealer. I found mine on amazon from a place that was taking them out of overstocked Buick center consoles.
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I also sized up the front cubby and it looks like it can be done. I just did not want to have any cords visible as I will be keeping my IPod Touch hooked up all the time.
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Post up some pics of where you have your USB receptacle mounted!

I have a supply of the Black GM USB/3.5mm AUX IN receptacles and Cables in a kit form for $70 shipped.
Paypal (friends and family), Zelle or FaceBook Pay to PPVSteve@Gmail.com if you would like a kit.

Or if you would like to try an aftermarket kit or just a plain cord Email me a link. I will buy it, have it shipped to me and put the correct ends on to plug into our radios.

PPVsteve@gmail.com
Last edited by smwalker on Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:41 pm, edited 11 times in total.
Steve Walker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by CrashTestDummy »

Great info. Thanks.
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by SuperDutyDave »

Well done illustrated and explained....I got parts for mine but with instruction and tools I was worried about it working. I therefore had our radio shop guy fabricate and test cable from parts I supplied...works great with White Audio tuning.

Only thing I will say......seems only to work with iPod.....plug in a samsung phone or thumb drive with standard music files on it and I get nothing. Anyone know any thoughts? Can Bluetooth stream music but that's it. iPhone or nothing.

Only thing disappointing with White tuning is that there isn't any documentation to explain radio features......since deleted from factory......factory manual fails to explain how they work. Wish White would include some info explaining features functions and screen icons

Other than that awesome

Dave
Dave AKA "SuperDuty"

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smwalker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by smwalker »

On the Thumb Drive reading it might be picky about what format it is in.

Do not know if any of this applies:
http://doughaslam.com/2010/11/04/format ... g-problem/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Will try some experiments.

FAT 32 Formating seems to work OK but I did have the ordering issue that link discusses. Displays them in order that I added them to the drive. But did see new data each time I put it on.

Image


And here is an explanation of why your Android devise cannot be read:
http://android.stackexchange.com/questi ... rage-drive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Think some new software for the radio would have to be developed to do it.
Last edited by smwalker on Thu Jun 18, 2015 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Steve Walker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by K9Vic »

USB must be FAT32.

* Limited to 1000 files (yes this Sucks)
* Folders are in order of date, not name (Easy fix, get a batch program and date all files & folders the same DD/MM/YY and time. This way they will be in alphabetical order)

EDIT: I use this program to change the date of all the files and folders on the USB drive after I copy them over. Also run it again if I add more files.
http://download.cnet.com/BulkFileChange ... 82036.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
smwalker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by smwalker »

K9Vic wrote:USB must be FAT32.

* Limited to 1000 files (yes this Sucks)
* Folders are in order of date, not name (Easy fix, get a batch program and date all files & folders the same DD/MM/YY and time. This way they will be in alphabetical order)
Thanks Vic, Just found your post detailing exFAT does not work.
http://newcaprice.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... f2c9#p4449" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's nice, just might do the USB stick in there instead of the Ipod. Not even sure I have 1000 songs in my library.
Steve Walker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by xcidmigs »

Only thing I will say......seems only to work with iPod.....plug in a samsung phone or thumb drive with standard music files on it and I get nothing. Anyone know any thoughts? Can Bluetooth stream music but that's it. iPhone or nothing.

This would def suck if its true
smwalker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by smwalker »

xcidmigs wrote:Only thing I will say......seems only to work with iPod.....plug in a samsung phone or thumb drive with standard music files on it and I get nothing. Anyone know any thoughts? Can Bluetooth stream music but that's it. iPhone or nothing.

This would def suck if its true
Yup true it seems. Can play off your Android device either through the AUX in with a cord or stream Bluetooth. So really the only advantage to the Ipod connectivity is you can play and charge at the same time. Where with the android you would just have to use Bluetooth for audio and a charge cord plugged into the accessory outlet to charge. Because I think if you plugged into the USB to charge it might try to connect the audio and just wait forever thus locking up the media input?? Don't know we need some experimenters.

There is so many ways to input audio after the Chris white upgrade there will be a solution for everyone with enough effort.
Steve Walker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by FzCobra »

Steve, Thanks for taking the time to post this write-up. It was a tremendous help.

-Rob
-Rob
2012 9C3 Mirage Glow Metallic
smwalker
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Re: How To - Build your own USB cable

Post by smwalker »

FzCobra wrote:Steve, Thanks for taking the time to post this write-up. It was a tremendous help.

-Rob
You are very welcome Rob! And welcome to the board. Did you just get your Caprice? Is that Tom Slicks old one?
Steve Walker
Azusa, CA
'11 PPV 9C3 Huron White
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